SAINT-TROPEZ, France--Kent Farrington, the current World number five, won the 5* Grand Prix with the aptly named Gazelle, in a magnificent jump-off.

Kent Farrington on Gazelle (Photo by Stefano Secchi)The many spectators present for this second 5* Grand Prix had to contend with light rain and moderate winds, but this didn’t dissuade the 38 riders who had entered this last class to take part in the final showdown.

Both Farrington and Beezie Madden on Garant were among the 12 riders that made the jump-off, of which five combinations were French and two were American.

Jessica Springsteen, the winner of last week’s 4* Grand Prix, came close to qualifying for the jump-off, but she wound up with a time fault...for going a hundredth of a second over the time allowed.

Farrington set off in the jump-off like a rocket, and the current Olympic team silver medalist and winner of the prestigious Grand Prix of Aachen in 2019, won the 5* Grand Prix in a time of 41.95.

 

FRANCE was second and third with Julien Epaillard on Usual Suspect d"Auge second in 42.30 and Nicolas Delmotte on lles VP third in 44.04'

Madden finished eighth clean in 53.55.

!“It’s always great to win a 5* Grand Prix, like this one here near Saint-Tropez, " said Farrington. "Maybe Sadri Fegaier could organize shows in the United States as I regularly win at his European shows. More seriously, I would especially like to thank Sadri Fegaier and his team: we went through a difficult period and we need people like him, enthusiasts who do so much for our sport. I take my hat off to him for building a complex like this for horses and the sport, and for organizing such great shows."

"I went last in the jump-off and Julien Epaillard was in the lead," said Farringon. "He is renowned for going really fast, even in the States. So I had to give it my all! I really focused on Gazelle’s natural speed, and I was extremely careful: for example, a double in the jump-off can be dangerous at these speeds; additionally,I was really careful on the last oxer, I helped Gazelle and in particular on these two parts of the course, that could have been difficult for her. Next week I am going to stay here to rest and then I will be competing in Windsor and we’ll see after that depending on how my horses are.”